Chapter 4: Them

As the monotone beeping of the school bell sounded, it marked the end of another day. Only a few days remained in the week until the year ended, and Alfred had been determined to be with his girlfriend because of it. They had been together for five days now and Alfred found himself more and more swept up by her. He loved everything about her and couldn't even see himself leaving her even when it came time for college.

He never felt so strongly for someone before and he couldn't get enough of her. That being the case, he did feel as if something had been lacking in life. He didn't realize what it was until he spotted Ivan making his way for the main doors of the school.

"Ivan! Vanya, what up!" he shouted down the hall, and smiled brightly at seeing the Russian stop.

Ivan turned around to look at Alfred coming his way and looked at him curiously as he stopped in front of him.

"What is it Alfred?"

"Dude, you was gonna leave without me!" Alfred exclaimed as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I know, I thought you'd—"

"Alfred!"

Ivan and Alfred both looked up towards that person that had cut into their conversation. What they saw was Monika coming towards them.

"Oh, hey Monika," Alfred greeted. "What's up?"

Monika smiled at him then looked at Ivan briefly to give him a smile too.

"I just, wanted to know if you wanted to walk with me again."

"Oh… Uh, sorry, but I was gonna walk with Ivan today," Alfred said and Ivan nudge him in the arm.

"Fredya, vse v poryadke," Ivan said.

Alfred felt a bit dejected at hearing this.

"Vanya, I'm walking with you okay," Alfred said back.

Ivan stared at Alfred blankly for a moment and Alfred gave a look of determination before turning to face Monika. The German had a faint pink to her face and Alfred found it adorable. He stepped forward and took one of her hands in his own.

"Sorry, but I'm going with him this time. I'll call you later though, okay?"

"Ja," was all she could say and Alfred leaned up to kiss her chastely.

When they pulled apart Monika had a darker blush on her face, and Alfred gave her a wink before turning back around latching onto Ivan's arm.

"Come on big guy, time's a wastin'," he said happily then turned around to wave to his girlfriend. "See ya Monika!"

Monika waved back shyly and Alfred turned back around. The two walked a ways in silence before Alfred finally said, "Ya know… You're supposed to beat me up when I start to vanish into a relationship."

Ivan gave a sigh to this and Alfred looked at him expectantly.

"I know, but you are so happy with her that I'd feel bad if I tried to drag you away," Ivan said. A part of him actually agreed with what he said, he had been accepting the two and had gotten better at controlling his emotions.

"Vanya, even so, you're my bro and I want to spend time with you as much as I do with Monika," Alfred admitted "I know it sounds stupid, but it's true."

Alfred said as he felt his heart racing. He didn't know why that was, but ignored it in favor of waiting for Ivan's answer.

"It's not stupid, but okay."

Alfred smiled brightly at hearing that and Ivan returned the gesture with a smile of his own. They easily fell into a comfortable silence after this, walking towards their homes feeling content. Ivan's house soon appeared and as Ivan headed up the path to his porch he asked Alfred if he wanted to come up.

"Oh, nah, not this time. I gotta call Monika ya know," Alfred said with a wink.

Ivan rolled his eyes as he put his key into the door.

"Wow, so dirty. Do you kiss through the phone too?"

"Hey, phone sex is pretty awesome," Alfred said in a believable tone, but Ivan knew better than to take the other seriously.

"Well, wear a condom or else you might get her pregnant," Ivan joked.

Alfred cracked a laugh at that then headed off towards his house. He shouted a goodbye between laughs and Ivan just shook his head as he finally got into his home. Once Alfred calmed down from laughing he pulled out his phone and dialed Monika's number. She picked up her end right as Alfred got to his front door open and greeted him with a sweet hello. He knew he had it bad for her, but even he surprised himself at times.

"Hey Monika, how are ya?"

"I'm fine, Alice walked with me since she missed her bus."

"Oh really?" Alfred asked as he walked up the stairs to his room, ignoring his family on the way up.

"Ja, her twin Chiara, you met her the other day, she didn't remind her about the time because she was with Antonio."

Alfred let out a laugh to that as he shut his bedroom door and slipped off his backpack.

"Well at least you didn't walk alone," Alfred said then added, "sorry about that, by the way. I just… hadn't spent a lot of time with Ivan outside of school lately."

"It's alright, it happens when you get a girlfriend," she said with a soft laugh.

"Psh, yeah, I guess."

"Besides you two seem really close. I didn't know you even understood any languages besides German, and the nicknames are cute," Monika commented.

Alfred gave a snort to this and laid out on his bed.

"Yeah, I only know the German because of Gilbert, but barely. I can understand and speak Russian because of Ivan and his family though. We've known each other since 9th grade and since then I've been able to hold a decent conversation and cuss him out pretty well in his own language!" Alfred said and laughed afterwards as he recalled a time when he had cussed Ivan out. It had been over a petty issue, a video game if he remembered right, but now it was just a hilarious memory. "And the nickname thing just happened one day. I forget how though," Alfred said while calming his laughter.

Monika laughed with him on the other end of the phone.

"See, very close."

"Yeah, I wouldn't trade him for the world. We had a debate a few days back about what our kids would look like with our friends and my brother. I said they'd be model worthy," Alfred said happily.

"With Ivan's eyes and your hair, that's a pretty cute kid," Monika said.

"I know right!"

A short pause came through the line before Monika spoke again.

"Alfred, what would you say to me, you, and Ivan hanging out sometime? That way we all can become friends and then you won't miss out on being with him."

Alfred gave a hum to this idea as he slowly pieced it together, then realized it was a pretty good idea.

"Yeah, yeah! We can do that! I get to be with you and hang out with him, two birds and one rock or whatever! You're so awesome," Alfred sighed into the phone.

Monika just laughed lightly and Alfred could already tell she was blushing on the other line. Alfred made a comment about it and even though Monika denied it he knew it was the truth. The two ended up talking to each other for hours until Monika had to finally go for dinner. Alfred had forgone dinner just so he could keep talking to her.

Once the call ended Alfred laid in his room in silence for a second before he recalled what he needed to do. He texted Ivan about hanging out with him and Monika and waited for a reply. It seemed like an hour had crawled by when Ivan finally replied.

'I don't think that'd be a good idea.'

Alfred furrowed his brow and made quick work of replying.

'Why not? Monika thought it be good to get to know you since you're like, my third arm and stuff. Plus I get to hang out with both of you and you get a new friend, so, win-win.'

Alfred waited ten minutes before Ivan replied.

'…What would we even do?'

Alfred did a fist-pump of victory at seeing Ivan's response and happily replied with: 'I don't know! :D But I'll tell ya when I talk to Monika! It's gonna be awesome though, promise!'

'It better be Fredya xp'

Alfred smiled at seeing this and could barely contain his happiness.

:/:/:/:

It was Wednesday morning when Alfred got up and told Monika the news. The two wasted no time in making a plan to do something with Ivan while getting ready for school. Alfred wanted to do something big, like go to beach, but Monika thought something simple would do fine. It took a while, but they managed to come to a compromise and once Alfred got to Ivan's house and into his room he told him of their plans.

"We're going to my house after school to play Cards Against Humanity!"

Ivan was in the middle of getting dressed as he heard this.

"Really?" he asked a bit surprised at how tame the idea was.

"Yeah! I wanted to go the beach but Monika thought something simple would be best. She's never played the game so it'll be even more fun!"

Ivan buttoned up his shirt while giving a hum to Alfred in response.

"Alright."

Alfred smiled brightly and lunged forward to hug Ivan. The Russian patted Alfred's back then pried him off so he could put on his shoes. Alfred only pouted for a second at being pushed off before talking about Monika's friend Alice.

"Ya know, Alice is really sweet, though kind of…out there. Like, spacey. But she is fun to be around, though her Italian comes through a lot when she gets excited."

"Well she seems… interesting," Ivan commented unsure of why this was a topic.

"You think so? Because… you know… you don't have a girlfriend right now, and Alice is—"

"No, Alfred!" Ivan found himself saying harsher than he intended.

"What? Why not? I just—"

"Alfred, I…" Ivan trailed off as he tried to justify his answer. He honestly didn't know why he said no. He felt annoyed when Alfred suggested he date her, but he didn't think he'd be this upset. "Look, I'm not… ready for a relationship. We'll be out of school by the end of this week and I rather not get into any relationship until college," Ivan said, though it was a lie.

Alfred gave a hum to this then shrugged his shoulder as he saw reason in what Ivan was saying.

"Yeah, yeah I get that. Okay, sorry."

Ivan smiled at Alfred then picked up his backpack.

"Come on, we can't be late—unless you wanna fail your final, that is," Ivan said with a questioning look.

Alfred let out a scoff and pushed passed Ivan.

"Like I'd ever want to fail. Where is your faith in me?"

Ivan smirked as he said, "Out the window."

:/:/:/:/:

The school day was filled with nothing but finals, prep-quizzes, and free periods. The day only seemed to go faster than Ivan would have liked while Alfred couldn't wait for the day to be over. Alfred was eager to get his best friend and girlfriend together and the clock seemed to be fighting him until the last period was finally over.

"Finally!" he said out of relief and ran out of his classroom.

He pushed his way through crowds to get to building housing AP Classes. He easily spotted Monika's tall frame in the crowd and the bouncy Italian beside her. Alfred shouted for both of them, hoping to get one of their attention and thankfully Alice heard him over the noisy halls.

"Mona, Alfred's here," Alice said then pointed towards the teen.

Monika looked around until she spotted Alfred's waving hand.

"I got to go Alice, but I'll talk to you later," Monika said as she started to walk to meet Alfred halfway.

Alice said goodbye as Monika reached Alfred and hugged him. When they pulled apart Alfred eagerly took the lead in taking Monika to where they'd be meeting Ivan. He held her hand tightly as they rushed through the school.

Ivan stood in the hall by a set of side doors waiting for Alfred and Monika. He had debated on whether or not he should leave and tell them something came up, but he was indecisive. He tried to make hanging out with Alfred and Monika seem fun in his head, but it wasn't easy. The ugly twisted feeling that had appeared on the day Alfred met Monika had already settled in. No matter how much he told himself he was fine with the Alfred being with someone, how much he accepted it, that feeling still persisted.

"Ivan!" Ivan snapped out his internal turmoil to see Alfred and Monika stopping in front him, the two holding hands. "You ready to go, big guy?" Alfred asked.

"Da, I told my father that I'd be with you unless he needs me."

Alfred furrowed his brow and Ivan wondered why he just spit out a lie as if it was the truth.

"Is something wrong?"

"Ah, he just needs to do something for work and Katyusha has been out all day so no one's around to watch Natalia."

Alfred gave a drawn out "Oh" and nodded his head. Even though it was lie to Ivan, this situation had happened a few times so Alfred didn't question it.

"Alright, well let's get going before you're pulled away to babysit," Alfred said looking at Ivan then Monika.

Ivan smiled softly as he went to walk alongside Alfred until he realized that Monika was in his place. To save himself from that awkward realization he made a move to open the door and let the couple walk out first. He felt the twist in his gut tighten, but ignored it as he trailed after them. The walk to Alfred's house was usually a peaceful thing for him, but as of now it wasn't. He had to keep trailing behind Alfred and Monika, the two talking and laughing in front of him. Only occasionally did Alfred address Ivan.

"You are so small, bärchen," Monika said with a smile.

"Don't make fun of my height! I get enough of that from Ivan!" Alfred huffed out.

"Da, and you are still a little man," Ivan said taking a chance to be in the conversation.

"You're just too big!" Alfred retorted, jabbing a finger at Ivan.

"And you are too small. Monika could probably pick you up," Ivan teased.

The moment he said this Alfred looked up at Monika who had a grin on her face.

"Don't you dare!" Alfred said and took his hand from Monika's before she could trap him.

"Aw, come on Alfred," Monika said in mock hurt and Alfred took a step back before completely running away. Monika laughed and went after him, which didn't take long for her to do. Ivan just watched from a distance and didn't even bother to think why he said what he did. The teen already felt exhausted, but as much as he'd like to not watch Monika wrestle Alfred into her arms to pick him up and then get stopped by a surprise kiss, he knew he had to go through with it. Alfred wanted them to hang out, so he'd try his best.

Eventually the three of them made it to Alfred's house and once on the porch Alfred paused.

"Alfred opened the door already," Ivan said tiredly.

Alfred turned around to face Monika and Ivan.

"Okay, but… Monika… I haven't had a chance to tell you about my parents. They're not exactly… average," Alfred said and while Monika looked confused Ivan was trying hard not to find this amusing. "You see I ha—"

Alfred was cut off right then by the front door opening and Arthur standing before him.

"Alfred are you going to come in or not?"

"I am I was just—"

"You idiot! You ruined our introduction! I told you to wait," came Francis' voice of despair behind the door.

Arthur sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Francis, so help me I will serve you for dinner! Frog legs sound great right now!" Arthur hissed and Francis gave huff and moved out from behind the door.

Alfred stood beside the door blushing in embarrassment at his parents behavior.

"Well lad, are you going to introduce us or not?" Arthur asked.

With a tired sigh Alfred said: "Monika, this is my dad, Arthur and my papa, Francis."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Alfred has told us a lot about you," Francis cooed as he stepped forward.

"It's more like runs his mouth off a mile a minute," Arthur said.

Monika looked at the two blankly then over to Alfred who still looked embarrassed then back.

"O-Oh, hal—hello, nice to finally meet you two," Monika said, recovering quickly from the surprise.

Alfred felt happy at seeing Monika shake hands with his parents, a smile stretching across his face. Ivan felt a part of him hurt from noticing that smile.

"So, the pizza is on its way. Matthew ordered the usual," Arthur informed as the teens made their way into the house.

"Awesome! We're gonna be upstairs so, see ya," Alfred said quickly and took Monika's hand as he rushed up stairs.

Ivan followed suit and Arthur and Francis watched the three of them until they were out of sight. When the three got into Alfred's room Ivan stood by the doorway for a moment, just watching Monika look around Alfred's room as he eagerly pointed out the highlights of his room.

"Why you lurking in the doorway dude, get in here," Alfred said after noticing a lack of tall Russian in his bedroom.

Ivan gave a crooked grin and moved to sit on the bed like he usually did. Monika sat next to him, though not to close, which Ivan appreciated, and Alfred rummaged through his room to find the cards. Monika watched as Alfred hunted for the cards, swearing he had them out before going to school. She found it cute how he was acting, but Ivan just wished Alfred would hurry up. The teen couldn't focus much on Alfred with Monika beside him, everything about her screamed for him to leave. He knew he was going to be a third wheel, but he couldn't back out just yet.

'Maybe it won't be so bad,' he thought, hoping to quell the anxiety in his stomach.

"Found it!" Alfred shouted and turned from his desk to show off the box.

"Congratulations bärchen," Monika said teasingly and Alfred just blushed slightly in response.

"I don't need to be mocked by you," he said as he sat down on the bed with a huff.

Monika laughed and hit Alfred in the arm lightly, to which Alfred shouted, "Abuse!"

"I am not!" Monika defended.

"Ivan's a witness!" Alfred shot back and looked to his friend with mock hurt.

Ivan smirked at being put in the middle of the conversation and went to say he saw nothing, but was interrupted by another voice.

"No abuse in my house!" came the obvious voice of Arthur. "Abusers won't get pizza."

Alfred gasped and eagerly held out his hands as the box of pizza, which his father gave up easily. Arthur shook his head at his son and gave them the cans of soda he brought with him too. Once they were set and Arthur left, Alfred had Ivan set up the game. They spent a good few minutes explaining the game to Monika before actually playing and the more rounds they went the more Ivan felt a need to leave.

"Oh my god blue balls!"

Alfred cracked up instantly alongside his girlfriend when she said this. Both of them laughing at a joke Ivan didn't get for the millionth time. The pair laughed as they tried to give details on why it was so funny, but it was lost in translation and laughter. Ivan felt his itch to leave burn more persistently, but he tried to fight it off. They continued their game for a while longer, Ivan bringing up old jokes that had Alfred tearing up in laughter, green peppers were thrown, and PDA was obviously present.

"Stop it Alfred," Monika giggled as Alfred tried to kiss her. "You're being a bad host."

Ivan secretly hoped Alfred would listen, but Alfred just gave a snort before saying, "Please, Ivan's been through worse! Ivan's been in the bathroom with me while I took a dumb and vice a versa, so it's fine."

"Wow, that is disgusting," Monika commented then cracked a smile as she started to laugh. "Ivan you poor soul."

Alfred just beamed a smile and Ivan just gave shake of his head. He knew Alfred had no shame at most times, but god Ivan wished he would right now. Ivan looked down at his phone as Alfred started to coax Monika into kissing him again. Unfortunately for Ivan he didn't realize she gave in right when he looked up and that dark feeling of his stabbed right through him.

"I need to go."

Ivan didn't realize what he had said until Alfred pulled away from Monika's lips and looked at him in confusion.

"Why?"

Ivan clenched his jaw as he tried to think of something.

"I, have to go home. My father needs me."

"What? Really?" Alfred asked again giving Ivan all his attention, which felt pretty good, but Ivan wasn't going to allow himself to stay.

"Yeah, he said it's about some chore I need to do, so I gotta go."

"Damn… Okay," Alfred said with a sullen expression that made a pang of anger go through Ivan. "I'll walk ya out then."

Ivan nodded then got to his feet and Alfred followed after. Ivan bid Alfred's goodbye as they walked down the stairs and out of the house. Once on the sidewalk Alfred reached out to grab Ivan's hand to stop him from leaving his yard.

"Is everything okay?"

Ivan turned around confused for a moment and could see the obvious suspicion in Alfred's eyes. Alfred knew something was off and Ivan had half a mind to tell him.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it?" Ivan lied and took his hand back, through reluctantly.

Alfred didn't say nothing for a while, but then gave a hum and nodded his head.

"Okay, see ya tomorrow then?"

"Yeah."

With that Ivan left, fleeing to his home, and Alfred went back inside and up the stairs. He knew something was off, and Ivan wasn't going to tell him willingly.

'I'll figure it out or beat it out of him soon,' Alfred thought as he got back into his room. There he found his girlfriend reading a letter with the NU crest.

"Snooping through my stuff already, huh?" Alfred said with a grin on his face, his worries leaving him upon seeing the cute surprised look on Monika's face at getting caught.

"No, I just… happened to find this while looking around," she admitted. "It was just laying open, but um… NU is a good school, I'm surprised you got in."

"Har har," Alfred said as he sat back down beside Monika. "And I got in with Ivan's help. He made sure I met their qualifications because we both wanted to go to this college together."

"You two should get married," Monika said with a soft smile on her face as she gave Alfred the letter.

Alfred chuckled at the comment and took the letter back.

"What about your college plans?"

"I'm going to BU in California once school's out. They have a summer program that I want to do that goes with my major they offer, and I got accepted for it," she said still smiling.

"BU…" Alfred repeated, though all he really got from this was- 'Monika is leaving the state?'

"Yeah, I know it's far, but we'll be okay."

Alfred looked down at his letter feeling a conflict that he didn't want, start to form.

"Yeah… just gotta stick to you like glue until you leave," he said optimistically and Monika smiled and leaned forward to kiss him.

Translations:

Fredya, vse v poryadke - it's okay

ja/da - yes

bärchen – little bear

***Mmmmm the next chapters are gonna be a trip :) Also, if I keep up my current speed and motivation I should be done with this very soon. I plan to post my chapters every 3 days. I already up to chp 11 so we'll see how long this gravy train will go u.u